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Topic: How much do you train?? (Read 2551 times)

Everyone seems to have a group of friends they always airsoft with. There are also a lot of small teams around the area. Now I've read way too many signatures that basically say "practice makes perfect" and its true. Practicing with the same group of players can only make that group of players function better when at a big event (the kind of event that normally breaks down into a cluster funk) I know I have been whipped numerous times by a group sporting the same camo, same weapon platforms, communicating with each other and keeping good formation.

So my questions:

1.How many people do you airsoft with regularly?

2.Do you have a gear/weapon requirement?

3.How often do you get together to train?

4.What do you do when you train?

5.Do you do AAR's after training, or events?

6.Do you notice a difference in how you play?

I guess I should start:

1. I play regularly with about 4 players, although our numbers have drifted upwards to 10 at some events if we can get EVERYBODY out to an event (Codename Thunder seems to be the popular one to get us all out at)

2. We have been trying with some success to get our group wearing Woodland, ALICE gear, and holding M16's. We have a good amount of players that have M4's or SCARs... but at least we can toss mags to each other

3. I would say we have been getting together (in varying numbers) at least twice a month... maybe more if work schedules line up. On top of the games we've hosted.

4. We have run our own shooting competitions, which results in running and shooting small metal targets. This has built familiarity with our weapon systems as well as staying cool under a running clock We discuss and practice combat formations, dispersion, movement, hand/arm signals, and react to contact. We practice these with an OpFor that may be 2 or 3 snipers or AEG's laying in ambush.

5. We have run AAR's after our events, about the event. I don't think we have been doing them for other (MAG/MIR) events or training. Something we should improve on

6. We don't group together anymore at large events. And our communication between eachother isn't half bad. I'm not saying we are the sylvester stalones of airsoft because we get whacked just as much as we do the whacking at any event. But I'd say yeah, it's been worth it

With my team, Chocolate Chip Airsoft Team, we train about once a month for the Chicago branch. For the Atlanta branch, I don't know exactly how much they practice/train but I posted up a video of hand signals for them to study and some basic rules of thumb of when stacking up in a squad so when we do go to a game together we are ready to go. ____

We do have a uniform requirements, if you couldn't tell by the team name, we wear chocolate chip camo.

The only restriction type of thing when it comes to weapon platforms is not even a weapon platform we just need the individual to have a secant weapon that they can use.

During training we do physical work outs, and we practice entering and breaching rooms since fear city is the only active field right now.

The Chicago branch has two people including myself but the Atlanta branch has 6-7 people and no matter the branch who ever is in is who we train with.

I don't notice too much of a difference in my game play because I tend to work with my teammates all the time, the only differences are the camo the the ability to remember the persons name more easily

1. We have a team of 12 (soon to be 14), but generally 6 - 8 members show up for training and events. We have four categories of membership including prospective candidate, candidate, casual members and active members. We are meeting with two prospective candidates soon, have no full candidates at the moment, five casual members who are usually too busy to attend, and the remaining seven are active members who are at just about every meeting/training session/event.

2. We don't have a weapon requirement, but do have a uniform code that members (including casual and active members) must follow. The only uniform code prospective candidates and candidates need to follow is simply wearing the team patch. By not requiring candidates to follow the uniform code, it gives them some time to save up for and purchase the uniform and armor(AOR1 and AOR2 combat uniform with a few other armor/gear requirements).

3. We get together at least once a month, on the third Saturday of the month, to train. We train at a warehouse leased by one of the active members' father. The warehouse sits on 10 acres of land with some lightly wooded area, so we get training inside and outside.

4. What we do month-to-month changes depending on what was lacking at the most recent event or the previous practice. We generally focus on moving as a team and communicating. At our most recent practice, we ran team-based drills like dynamic two-man reloading drill, leapfrogging as a team to assault a fixed position, and CQB/MOUT room clearing. Also, we skirmish for about half the training session. We usually start out with a few quick TMD matches, then switch over to breaching drills where half the team would try to breach the warehouse and retrieve something while the other half defends.

5. If we have a productive practice, I'll type up an AAR on our Facebook page so the members who didn't attend can stay informed. We also record as much as we can. Those recordings get edited and end up on the team's Youtube channel; that way members who were not able to attend can see what we worked on, as well as what needed work.

6. The first few events this year, we found ourselves starting out together, but as the day went on, the team would separate (due to getting hit, running out of ammo, getting tired, etc) and go off doing their own thing with different groups, occasionally meeting back up with a few other members. I often found myself leading a charge into battle and getting hit fairly early on; as regiment commander, I need to stop that, especially since I'm our team's link back to command. The issue was that very few members would follow my directions when given. For example, I would give an advance order, and they'd sit under cover; so I would get frustrated and press the advance so the others would follow. After training only a few times, then hitting our local field again, we found that we were sort of dominating the field. Communication was strong (I knew where everyone was and what their status was), our tactics were getting tighter; we were just working better together. We'll have to see how that translates over to a larger event (January, we're heading up to Sherwood Forest for Frozen Storm). I'm also finding that members are following orders a bit better (probably because they've gained a little more confidence in me since I organize and run our drills during training). I still charge into battle every now and then, but only when the mission is less critical. My goal is to become a go-to squad for the event team CO to send out on specialty missions (capturing points, recovering intel, etc.), forcing us to work together even better.

For week-end pickup games at the local paintball/airsoft field, there are usually 3-4 other team members. Additionally, there is typically another 2-4 people from a team that associates with our group.

2.Do you have a gear/weapon requirement?

Yes and no. We have an official camouflage requirement though no weapon requirement. However, we tend to relax the rules for younger members who have less discretionary money to spend on airsoft, as long as they purchase the required patterns the next time they buy gear.

3.How often do you get together to train?

We used to meet as a team every other week for training. However, those sessions typically devolved to casual "hang out" time, making most practice ineffectual. Now, we do not meet regularly for training.

4.What do you do when you train?

We typically ran movement and shooting drills.

5.Do you do AAR's after training, or events?

We usually have a post-game meal at a fast food chain. However, we use that time as a "social" event rather than a dedicated AAR meeting.

6.Do you notice a difference in how you play?

The people that I normally play with are familiar with my behavior, and I'm familiar with their behavior. As a result, we tend to perform better as compared to the other members of the team that I see less frequently.

Violence Industries has been operating unofficially for the past few years under the same auspices, we only just recently drew up the charter. Here goes!

1.How many people do you airsoft with regularly?If by "Regularly", you mean "At consistent intervals and having the quality of being similar in timing and event type, then... Well, we *very* regularly attend events as a full unit! It's just that being working adults, most of us manage... Exactly once a year.

2.Do you have a gear/weapon requirement?-Body armor is highly discouraged due to heat problems and the deadening effect it has on pellet strikes.-Each VI associate MUST have a full liter of water in his gear at minimum when entering the field.-No Multicam, Cryptek, or ACU patterns, no Sierra colored gear or clothing.-Unit's official uniform is flat-colored cargo/tactical/heavy-duty dress trousers of either tan, green, or gray color, with a gray or heather gray polo shirt. -Strict PPE requirements in effect. Shooting glasses not permitted at any events, even when the event permits it. BLack ballistic face mask to be worn somewhere *other* than on the face as team identifier. -Load-bearing equipment is mandatory, harnesses/chest rigs recommended.

3.How often do you get together to train?Once a year whether we need it or not.

4.What do you do when you train?Practice arguing about who gets which callsign, so that it can be accomplished in a reduced timeframe; practice bobbing for Hamm's in the kiddie pooler; practice dramatic deaths in case there's a camera nearby. Agendas change with thge times though. As a forward-thinking private security contractor, Violence Industries prides itself in being able to adjust plans dynamically in the field.

5.Do you do AAR's after training, or events?We do shots of Jameson and pass a bottle of Sobieski and talk about all of our sweet kills and embarrassing deaths, does that count?

6.Do you notice a difference in how you play?We kick so many more asses as a unit ever since we started being a unit.

Logged

Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.

On a more serious note, we're talking about making it a requirement for senior members and a suggestion for junior members to have a spare gun that is some sort of V3 AEG that takes AK magazines so that gun failures are much easier to address even if people forgot one thing or another.

« Last Edit: January 15, 2015, 06:07:42 pm by Redtail »

Logged

Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.